Thursday, April 24, 2008

Santa Barbara authorities arrested an employee of Santa Barbara-based Big Dog, Inc., on suspicion of embezzling more than $70,000 from the apparel company.On March 20, a management officer at the company reported that an account manager, 36-year-old Craig Commadore, had embezzled approximately $1,761 from the company, Sgt. Lorenzo Duarte said.“As the investigation unfolded, it revealed that Commadore had actually embezzled approximately $73,000 over a one-year period of time,” he said.After Santa Barbara police obtained an arrest warrant, they took Commadore into custody on Tuesday at his home in the 100 block of S. Canada St. Authorities booked the 36-year-old into County Jail on embezzlement charges, Sgt. Duarte said, and he has been released on his own recognizance.

I don't know why this person would stick up for him. When someone is arrested for violent crime, sometimes they are wrongly accused. The police do not waste time arresting, nor does the DA waste time filing charges on people accused of monetary crimes unless they have an overwhelming preponderance of evidence.

A nice guy?!? This company is in the midst of a wage freeze and has already laid off some 20 people from its corporate office do to poor 2007 performance, and it turns out that this guy had been stealing from the company?try telling one of the people who were laid off that he is a "nice guy".

He is still a nice guy. I can understand why they have "poor performance". It took them a year to figure out he was embezzeling. I would tell the people that were laid off that they seem to have a management and internal controls problem.

Desperate people do desperate things. Do you know this guy's story??? I think all kinds of people steal. You obviously have not ever been desperate enough. There is also no such thing as a trusted position. In a company the size of Big Dogs one would hope they have some internal controls, but obviously they don't. Sad that anyone would judge this guy without knowing his story.

So, this guy who steals from a company that may be poorly managed, remains "a nice guy" while we blame the company? No. If he actually did it, he would be a criminal. While the rest of us work hard for our money, he chooses the easy way, he steals. That does not seem very "nice"

I "blame" the company for having to layoff 20 people. I "blame" the company for making it easy for their employees to steal from them. I "blame" Craig for doing something stupid. I't just really too bad, he is a very nice guy.

Ok, so people need to stop placing blame and let the legal system do what it is designed to do. Determine the guilt or innocence of the person being tried.

Craig is a great guy, and I am beyond surprised that these events have occurred. My prayers go out to his family and to him. Good people sometimes do bad things but that does not make them a bad person!

"Desperate" people may rob a store, or some other one-time crime out of desperation. A guy who orchestrates an elaborate year long scheme to defraud a company of tens of thousands of dollars is not the act of a "desperate" man. The fact the he did this so that he could buy his wife a Mercedes and remodel parts of his house speaks to the claim of "desperation".

And to the point of blaming the company for "making it easy to steal", that is as ludacris as blaming a rape victim because her skirt was too short.

I agree also. Craig does seem to be a nice person. I just wouldn't trust him with a nickel. I do wish his family the best. I think he needs to be prepared to accept the consequences of his selfish actions.

A person does not isolate a lack of integrity to one area of their life. They either have it, or they don’t. They either have a conscience or they don’t. Being a “nice” person can be part of an outwardly appearance that only masks issues no person could even imagine. Everyone that has ever known him is still in disbelief. It is a sad and unfortunate thing when a grown man makes such poor and selfish choices that would so severely effect his future and the future of everyone that is involved in his life. In addition, how could a mother of two children even get involved? How could you not be concerned about the future of your children? In either case….. nice? Right, I’m sure the judge will take that into consideration.

It is sad to think he may have done this at his other workplaces. I bet all those people are scrambling now! Hopefully they can track it and pin up a few more charges on this guy. He deserves everything he gets... I hope its a nice long prison sentance. Shame on him and his family for choosing this path- whatever his reasons are! He has made it clear that he is not a nice person or a desperate person, just a selfish one. Those who think differently would probably be ok with stealing too. Sad world we live in.

The word is it's been in and out of court a few times over the last few months. Back in again at the end of September. Hopefully by the end of the year they will charge him with the real deal so he can serve some time and start paying for what he did! That loser hasn't been working like he just got away with it!